Daily Meditation: March 10, 2022

by John and Mary Margaret Hevron on March 10, 2022

When Jesus returned to his home in Copernicium so many gathered around that there was no longer room for them not even in front of the door: and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came bringing a paralyzed man to him, being carried by four of them. When they couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they lowered down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there questioning in their hearts, Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is Blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone? At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them. “Why do you raise such questions in your heart? Which is easier to say to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven”, or to say “Stand up and take up your mat and walk.” But so that you know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins---he said to the Paralytic, “I say to you, stand up and pick up your mat and go home. And he immediately stood up took his mat, and went out before all of them; so, they were all amazed and glorified God saying, “we have never seen anything like this.”

- Mark 2:1-12


We were introduced to this passage on an early Trinity Medical mission to Honduras. We were staying in a humble house with a thatched roof, deep in the Honduran countryside. In the evening, we would pick up our bedrolls to clear the floor of our pavilion to celebrate vespers. Sitting in a circle on the concrete floor, Drew Rollins, our priest, read to us this passage. As he read, we heard a loud rustling in the thatch above our heads. We were startled when it appeared that the bible verse was coming to life. We felt for sure that a litter containing the paralyzed man would be lowered into our midst. In truth, the agitation coming from above was a large lizard pursuing its prey in the palmetto ceiling above our heads.

This reading stresses the fact that actions are stronger than words. The abstract idea of pardoning one’s sins, is not as strong as the vision of the paralyzed man standing, picking up his mat, and exiting the room. We of little faith sometimes need to see with our own eyes God’s miracles.

Later, on this same mission trip saw with our own eyes a miraculous cure. We encountered a man of the countryside, a Campesino on the front steps of our clinic. He had slept there the night before, to ensure a place in line as he had a serious medical problem. He had cut his arm while working in the field with his machete, and the wound had become severely infected. Infection and induration was creeping up his arm and his hand was rendered useless. We tended to him as best we could because our supplies were limited. Sam Logan, our surgeon, debrided the wound and drained some of the infection. We then gave him an injection of an antibiotic and told him to return every day for follow-up and a daily antibiotic treatment. Each day that he returned he showed dramatic signs of improvement. By the end of the week, he had a functional hand and no signs of infection. Had he presented to an emergency room in the States, he would have been hospitalized, undergone surgery, been seen by multiple specialists and could have lost his arm. It appears that the bacteria of the Honduran outback were susceptible, and had not yet become resistant to our antibiotics, “wonder drugs”.

So, was it a miracle that this man’s hand was saved? The miracle is that God guided us to leave the comfort and safety of our own homes and travel to that remote spot at just the right time to help this man. We were humbly trying to act out God’s message to us, to render hospitality and love for our Honduran neighbors, and we were so bountifully rewarded.

This Spring, in late May and early June we will reprise our Trinity Medical Mission in the Dominican Republic. This will be our 28th trip. We have spent two years on hiatus due to Covid. We are looking for volunteers with a medical background, or translation skills, or generalists who are willing to work. If you are interested in being part of God’s work in action, please join us.

Musical Reflection - Jimmy Cliff - Actions Speak Louder Than Words


Little Children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. Amen.

-1 John 3:18